Nancy Pelosi, Savior Of The Unions

Yesterday the Writers Guild of America went on strike, so in honor of the Union, I choose not to cross the picket line. Today I will present in my “Hypocrites of the Left” series the story of Nancy Pelosi. Why Nancy? Because as we honor the Writers Guild, what better way than with the champion of the Unions, Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi is after all the 2003 recipient of the Cesar Chavez Legacy Award, so I am sure her personal actions live up to her public persona. Yeah, right? Pelosi and her husband own a vineyard in Napa Valley, on Zinfandel Lane in St. Helena worth $25 million. The Pelosis’ make upwards of $2 million per harvest, hiring several different harvesters each year. Not one of the harvesters that the Pelosis’ hire has a contract with the United Farm Workers. The Pelosis’ sell their grapes to two different wineries, both non-union. In recent years the Pelosis’ have held stake in two other wine enterprises – Ravenswood Winery and Charlore Wine Group, both – you guessed it – non-union.

As a keynote speaker at the 2004 AFL-CIO meeting, Pelosi said “Thank you all for fighting for America’s working families. And thank you for fighting to end the union-busting, family-hurting, exporting jobs presidency of George W. Bush.” Oh, and did I mention that in the last three elections organized labor has contributed almost $800,000 to Pelosi’s campaign.

Okay, so the Pelosis’ don’t use unionized labor at their wineries, but they are also involved in the hotel and restaurant business, so surely they use unionized labor THERE, right? After all, The AFL-CIO’s Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) contribute more to Pelosi’s campaigns than any other congressional candidate. Auberge du Soliel, their hotel and resort in Napa, charges $450 to $3,500 a night. Despite only 50 rooms, the hotel employees over 250 employees, many of them Hispanic immigrants, and none of them are union. Another exclusive hotel that until recently the Pelosis’ owned a share in, The San Yisdro Ranch in Santa Barbara, is naturally nonunion.

The Pelosis’ also are partners in a restaurant chain called Piatti. The chain boasts sixteen restaurants in five states, with over 900 employees, ALL, nonunion.

Is this illegal? Actually, it’s not. However, given that the Congresswomen’s website makes it clear that she is very upset at her political opponents who are always “rewarding wealth over work and putting profits before people”, I would say that it is amoral at best.

It is interesting that all of Pelosi’s largest investments – the vineyard, the hotels, the restaurants – make use of immigrant labor, those most vulnerable to labor exploration. Pelosi favors liberal immigration laws and amnesty for illegals already here. Her position perfectly fits the Pelosis’ financial interests.